The Beifong Academy of Advanced Spellcraft - Book One - Mirrors
by Crazycatlady89
Summary: Korra is a student at the prestigious Beifong Academy of Advanced Spellcraft. As a special treat their mentor takes the class to a quaint little apothecary where they encounter a strange mirror. Both Korra and Asami is about to learn a very dear lesson about taking demons lightly. Witch AU with bending.
**The Beifong Academy of Advanced Spellcraft - Book One - Mirrors.**

 **Chapter 1; The Disappearance of Asami Sato.**

 **A/N:** This is part one in the first book (Mirrors) of the "The Beifong Academy of Advanced Spellcraft" series. Each book will be only a few chapters and focus on a specific story/problem, they are not chronological but all set within the same universe.

As we were nearing the end of our tenth year in school, excursions out of the classroom became more and more frequent. It was a nice change of pace from the constant studying and lording over dusty old tomes.

We left the school in a highly organized double file but such discipline and order dissipated around the time we entered the city proper and small stores began popping up around us.

After twenty minutes of walking at in a pace which could be described as brisk by olympic standards, most of my classmates had become winded and were complaining rather loudly about the inhumane conditions.

This caused several snickers from passersby who watched our little group with curiosity.

Lin seemed to finally take note of the spectacle we were making and reduced her speed a little making our march something closer to a proud swagger.

When we passed a small confectionáre she even allowed us to buy a snack for it was really a very hot day.

Our class was exceptionally lucky to have Lin Beifong as our mentor, she was an extraordinary woman who did not suffer any fools. Which naturally put me and her somewhat at odds.

We had come to an unsteady truce somewhere in my eight year when I found myself growing more interested in other things than disrupting the classroom. Lin knew that it was much due to the influence of my best friends who were by a large margin better and more serious students. Especially one witch named Asami Sato, whom I had grown very fond of.

The town surrounding the school grounds held an odd mixture of magical and non magical people. Often the witches would stay more on the east side while the normal non magical people stayed on the west side. At a glance nobody would be able to tell the difference between the two, but if you took a nice long stroll in either direction there would definitely be differences to pick out.

The houses seemed slightly older on the east side and there was a certain uncanny valley feeling there. The flowers in the gardens were different, often slightly ugly by non magical standards and not as neatly kept. The curtains were drawn tight more often than not, and a curious amount of them still had active chimneys in spite of electricity being standardized for normal household use some 100 years ago.

The normal people of Seabright would call the eastside and it's people quaint. They would walk there on their afternoon strolls, smirking at the oddness yet find themselves inexplicably fond of it.

Our little group passed many such people, often brandishing the walking sticks and bowler hats that were still very popular in Seabright, even if the rest of the modern world had long since moved on to softer headwear or even none at all.

It seemed that in many ways, east side or west, that Seabright was a town lost somewhat in the passing of time; never quite evolving but neither was it devolving as was often the case with larger more modern cities. A woman could walk here at night and fear very little, a man could leave his bike unlocked or his Ford Falcon with an open door while he 'just nipped inside for a packet of smokes'.

The ladies wore the few fashionable dresses that trickled in from the nearby capitol of Republic City, slim a-lines or pencil skirts with high collars. Others simply wore the traditional outfits of their home nation, a trend that had gone out of style some fifty years ago, but here remained very much alive.

Our little group were dressed in the Beifong Academy greens and blacks, a militaristic uniform meant to uphold the illusion of Beifong Academy as a military school for gifted youth, and thus give them a million different excuses as to why it was so private. Though often the Beifong name alone carried enough power to do so and we rarely experienced any significant problems.

I walked next to Asami, naturally falling into step with her. Kuvira and Opal walked close to us but often with those two it was very hard to drag their attention from each other.

Asami was in so many ways my polar opposite, yet we had become very close in the last 5 years. So much so that I felt comfortable around her like I would with a sister.

"You have such beautiful hair. I'm jealous." I said to her as I lengthened my stride to catch up to her. "You should let it down more."

She smiled but shook her head a little, "It's too bothersome, besides your's is better."

That was impossible. Asami's hair was gorgeous, black and curly in all the right ways. Only one thing… I tugged at a strand.

"I only wish it was a little shorter. You have a natural bend here, it would be perfect just above that."

Asami watched me neutrally. I never considered that her hair might be a soft point and I felt kinda bad for putting my own expectations on it.

Lin Beifong stopped outside a rather large but very bland storefront. We waited there for a spell until a nearby couple had passed far enough down the street to be out of earshot, then Lin addressed us with that raspy but arguably very attractive voice of hers.

"Alright listen up!" She called. "We're about to enter the Spirit World Apothecary. Please note that this is NOT a normal shop, while in there you do exactly as the keepers tell you. Do NOT touch anything in the back room…"

I leaned over to Asami's ear, "is she going to repeat the entire briefing again?"

Asami's lips curled into a smile but she remained silent, stoically watching Lin while we endured another five minutes of solid lecturing on things we already knew.

The front room of the Spirit World was nothing like I imagined a witchcraft supplier to be.

The shop was impeccably white and very clean. Walls lined with white shelves and products that looked like your standard apothecary salves and lotions or any other inconspicuous supermarket beauty supplies.

Shaving creams, body lotions and deodorants in plain white with only a hint of colour, and a section for men all in steel blue.

There was even a display with colourful socks and sunglasses. As well as toothbrushes and paste for all ages.

"10 minutes here then we start the tour, any purchases must be run by me." Lin called.

There was a general murmur of consent before each of us opened the little pouch on our belts and whetted our fingertips with sanctified chalk.

I began running my fingers over labels on the plain white bottles and jars, as they traced the words they changed to reveal the true contents.

'Powdered fingernails'

'Orphanage pillow feathers'

'Ginger'

Asami was off to ask one of the keepers for something. I can't remember what but the woman nodded vigorously before steering Asami towards the steelblue section where some of the more volatile ingredients were held.

10 minutes passed much too quickly.

I did not buy anything but Asami stuffed a rather bulky bag into her small leather rucksack before we lined up for the actual tour.

Head keeper Kya lead us towards the back with a couple of her juniors in tow.

There was a door there that didn't fit in with the decor at all.

Installed against plain white wall, freshly painted and crisp was a rough hewn wooden door with three small vertical slits and a set of heavy cast iron bolts.

All witches have their gifts and all of them are powerful in their own right.

One of my gifts was the ability to sense magic and boy did I sense it. Magic so intense it boiled and churned inside me, nearly making me throw up the churros I shared with Asami while we walked here.

For good measure Kya began her own safety briefing.

"Behind this door is our most dangerous stock. We do not normally allow tour groups this large in there, the reason for that is perfectly clear. However… Lin has informed me that you are the brightest students in a generation and you can behave yourself..."

Several faces in their ten people group looked very proud at that. I couldn't help but do so as well, not for me though; I was a right mess at magic half the time and quite extraordinary the other half, but for Asami. Out of our group she was hands down the most talented, and to hear that our group was the best in a generation must've been something of an ego boost to her. She grinned at me and I grinned back.

"...To guard something this dangerous we have something equally, or perhaps in some eyes even more dangerous. The demon of the mirror is wise, and cunning and he tempts the weak of heart. If you hear voices in your head, do not listen to them or ask the keeper at the door to let you out. When we enter the room we enter his domain, do not be foolish or careless with your safety and for the love of Raava do not touch the mirror.

If you wish to pass on this opportunity you may remain at the front desk with my assistant. Otherwise you will keep to the rules or suffer the consequences."

I thought she sounded unreasonably cheerful through that speech though it didn't stop my hands from sweating.

Lin cracked a smile. It was only the gentlest of tugs on one corner of her mouth but I knew enough to recognize it and it put me somewhat at ease.

Unfortunately Kya had not realized the danger in boosting Asami's already rather over inflated ego just before entering the room with a powerful demon that tempted people with their weaknesses, if she had, I imagined that speech would have gone very differently.

The moment she unbolted the door it had begun whispering to her.

Had it waited until we were inside or even until the door had been opened, she might have thought to ask Kya to sit this one out and saved herself a buttload of trouble, but as it were she entered the room thinking that the slight whisper was nothing if not normal for a room full to the bursting with the rarest and most dangerous of ingredients and magical enhancements.

Room was a bit of an overstatement though, the damp cellar was dungeonesque in its execution. Almost stereotypical to a point.

What we entered was the complete contrast to the clean and crisp front store.

A three step stair, broad and rough hewn like the door leading there, dropped into a stone walled cellar with row upon row of thick wooden shelves. Each shelf held vials and boxes in all all manner of sizes and colors.

If you had asked a non magical person to describe an overdimensioned pantry for witches this would have been it.

Except. There was the oddest thing present there.

Raised slightly on a dias made from a single slate of stone was a mirror. It looked to me like arms were stretching out of the stone slab to hold, or perhaps even caress the mirror's edge. So many of them that the mirror needed nothing else to stay perfectly upright.

At some point the frame must have been wood, simple and highly polished, but not so anymore. All but the last third had been completely petrified. The transition between wood and stone was strange, grey and brown melted together to create some unnamed substance that was a mixture between both of them.

I looked into the glossy surface and I saw angles, blocks of color and little else. The other students threw glances at it, and I knew that like me they were seeing something new inside it every time they looked.

The size of the thing was nothing amazing either. Enough to let a tall man enter if he kept his arms in and his head low

.

The oddest thing was perhaps that I immediately pinpointed the mirror as the source of the great magic I felt within the room, but it did not stop there.

I felt anxiety and fear when I realized how the mirrors power was slowly bleeding into the room around us, so much so I had felt it outside. Just not nearly this powerful.

My hand dipped back into the sanctified chalk and I drew a rune on my neck to keep from retching.

Ever observant Lin approached me. "Are you alright Korra? Do you hear any voices?"

"No." I answered truthfully, "I just never felt magic this concentrated and it's making me feel a little eh… pukey."

Lin squeezed my shoulder awkwardly, "I thought this might be hard for you, let us know if you want out."

I shook my head and smiled weakly.

When Lin went back to Kya I felt Asami's hand replace her touch on my shoulder in a much warmer, gentler gesture. When I looked at her, her eyes were trained on the mirror. It worried me but Asami was a stubborn creature and I learned early not to attempt to coddle her.

I'd never seen most of these ingredient out of our books. They were powerful substances, often illegal by non-magical standards or incredibly rare and thus well beyond my price range. Which didn't much matter as Lin had strictly prohibited us from buying anything from this part of the store.

Throughout our perusing I couldn't help but feel that Asami was a bit distracted.

She had some abilities in magic detection, nearly every witch does, but it was not one of her gifts so it puzzled me to see her this affected.

I couldn't help but feel relieved when the tour was over and we filed out. Most of us looking a little paler than we had going in. We walked together towards the front of the store for whatever lecture Lin had prepared, Asami and I bringing up the rear of the group.

I squeezed her hand but she seemed off. A glassy look in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She did not answer and I was about to ask Lin for help, when Asami released my hand and took off back towards the cellar room.

"ASAMI!" I yelled. Calling the attention of everyone around us.

We ran after her. The shop suddenly seemed infinitely longer than before.

She was standing next to the door, her body pressed into the corner and her arms spread out, like she was clinging to reality. Her chest was heaving and she seemed totally out of it.

Our eyes locked and I saw it.

The desperation there.

Her eyes were asking me to help her.

I cautiously began walking towards her, my hand outstretched, reaching for hers, "it's okay Asami. Just come away from the door."

She continued watching me with those feral pleading eyes but she did not move. I could hear her teeth grinding against each other, like she wanted to speak but couldn't.

"Please Asami just come here."

"What's going on?" Lin called, she was pushing her way through the people who had followed us, they were all watching in silence.

"No… NO!" I yelled.

The heavy bolts on the door where sliding on their own accord. Metal on metal grating loudly in the silence, their only company was the sound of Asami's frantic breathing her eyes never left mine but I knew that she knew what was about to happen.

I surged forwards to take her in my arms, not caring what would happen once that door swung open.

But it never did.

It cracked open just enough to suck in Asami. It was strange, for a moment she seemed almost ethereal. She must have been to pass through that narrow crack.

We both screamed.

My hands were on the door and by the margin of a fingernail I avoided getting them stuck as the door slammed closed, leaving Asami on the wrong side of it.

"ASAMI! ASAMI!"

I jerked the door open violently but she was gone, there was only that awful mirror, black and taunting. I did not hesitate but ran forwards, jumping into the glass.

I entered into a void.

There was a voice.

Laughter, deep and unsettling.

Then I was thrown back out.

Pain surged through my body as I smacked against the stone floor.

Asami was gone, and I could not follow.


End file.
